The Winner Takes It All
by Nefite
Summary: After losing the World Championships of A Capella, Kommissar tries to get her own, personal victory out of the evening. And what better way to achieve just that than by continuoisly teasing the leader of the now world-famous Barden Bellas. Only the night doesn't go quite as planned...
1. Chapter 1

Looks like I've fallen for this ship ever since watching PP2 for the first time. So much so that I've actually watched it 3 times so far, once in german, twice in english. So I've decided to fuel my obsession into this little story. It was intended to be a oneshot at first, but I have some ideas for more chapters. Sadly, I don't have as much time to write them down as I wish I had, took me about a week to get to this point, because of school and work and the fact that life in general just likes to keep me occupied. I'm also something of a perfectionist when it comes to writing, since I'm never quite satisfied with the results. I rewrote most of this story like every other day... Also I'm German and writing in english was kind of a challenge. So if you find any mistakes please tell me so I can correct them.

Feel free to leave some constructive criticism, I'm always looking to improve myself :)

Rated T for some coarse language and mild suggestive themes.

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The Winner Takes It All

This hadn't gone as expected.

Still in their performance getup, the crew of DSM stood inside the big VIP tent on the festival grounds, unmoving. All around them were the other competitors, dancing, drinking and just enjoying themselves in general after the championships. DSM did neither of those things. They had lost the competition and losing wasn't something they were used to. Kommissar wondered how people could be so happy about losing such an important contest, since, in the end, there was only one winner. This feeling of defeat was definitely something she would not want to experience a second time.

The other members of her team were in roughly the same mood as her, their expressions ranging from frustration to all out anger. And who could blame them. The first place should have been theirs. The Bellas had performed an original number for their final performance and everyone knew that A Capella was purely about covers and not just making something up. The American group even exceeded the three minute limit for performances, but it seemed like no one cared about that. Kommissar and her second in command, Pieter, had explained their objections to the judges and, in her mind, had made a very solid case for themselves, but apparently the whole thing had been rigged from the start. Especially the judge's comment about there not being a rule that forbade original material had infuriated her to the point where she could barely hold in her anger. Surely someone must have thought to include such a vital rule for something as important as the Worlds. Apparently not. Thankfully she had been born with a naturally high level of patience and self control or this might have turned ugly very fast.

Luckily, due to their intimidating outfits and aggressive attitude, none of the other competitors had tried to approach them, let alone come even remotely close to them. There was a rather broad, vacant area around them, that no one dared to enter.

Hands behind her back and posture straight, Kommissar looked out over the dance floor at the sweating, drunken mass of people jumping, dancing and, to her disgust, even grinding on one another. She scrunched up her face, trying to find something that was more pleasing to the eye. Her eyes settled on a small group of the Barden Bellas near the open bar and her lips curled up into a smirk. Perhaps the evening wasn't going to be so bad after all. She turned to Pieter, who had assumed the same posture as her, and had an equally sour look on his face.

"Ich bin gleich wieder zurück." He raised an eyebrow in question at her, but didn't say anything. She detached herself from the group and walked over towards the American girls, posture flawless and stride determined. She could still get her own personal victory out of tonight, she was sure of it.

Apparently, the Barden Bellas had split up into smaller groups, since she could only spot 4 of their members near the bar. All of them were clutching some brightly colored drink. She came to a halt only a few feet away from them, training her gaze on their leader, Beca Mitchell.

The conversation the girls had prior to her arrival died in an instant, as they became aware of her presence. A smile crossed her face. She still had it. That disarming, commanding presence, that could silence a whole room if she wanted to. That wasn't something you lose by something as petty as a minor defeat.

"Barden Bellas. Congratulations on your success. I hope you are enjoying your victory." she tried to sound sincere for once and did an amiable job at that. The confusion was evident on the girls' faces. They probably hadn't thought of DSM as good sports.

"Uh... thanks, I guess." Beca said, unsure of how to react to the tall blonde woman in front of her.

"You're quite welcome." Kommissar said, another smile making it's way onto her face and this time it stayed. "So, tell me how it feels being the world champions of A Capella?"

"Feels pretty good, yeah." the brunette answered, looking around at her friends who nodded their heads in affirmation, though the earlier confusion was still apparent in their mannerisms. And there was something else, caution maybe.

"How does it feel to lose for a change? Must be a whole new experience for an overall perfect person such as yourself." And there it was again, the thing that the German enjoyed so much about the leader of the Bellas, her total awkwardness around Kommissar. Beca tried to hide her face in her hand out of shame from unintentionally complimenting the women in front of her yet again. Kommissar simply cocked an eyebrow at her and answered in an even voice.

"It is not something I would want to experience a second time, I admit. But I assure you that the next time we compete, there won't be any juristic loopholes for you to exploit."

Basically being called cheaters was obviously too much for the Bellas to take and they immediately got on the defensive side, throwing all kinds of insults her way. Americans, figures.

"You callin' us cheaters, bitch? 'Cuz I'm gonna slap you so hard you won't..." The small, dark skinned women was cut off by Beca, who had put a hand on her shoulder in an effort to calm her.

"Girls, come on, don't be like that. We won. That's all that matters right?" she said in a kind of soothing voice, looking at each of her friends before turning back to Kommissar. "Look, if you're just here to insult us with that angelic voice of yours, you better leave. We're not here to start a fight with you guys."

Kommissar had to admit she was a little impressed. Usually the leader of the Barden Bellas lost her composure entirely whenever she 'accidentally' complimented the tall blond, but this time she seemed to have held it together. Actually, no, she didn't. Out of the corner of her eyes Kommissar could see the smaller woman fidget nervously with the hem of her shirt. Still, she had to admire the self-control the younger girl was showing right now.

"Yeah, 'cause we wouldn't stand a chance against those ripped, juicy boys of yours, if we had to mud wrestle with them, which, by the way, I would totally be down for. Just saying." Kommissar's second eyebrow rose up to meet the first one at the comment of the rather corpulent blonde standing next to Beca. She vaguely recalled her name to be 'Fat Amy' and wondered how anyone would willingly call themselves something as degrading as that. This group truly was very weird.

"Not helping, Fat Amy." Beca ground out through her teeth, eyes fixed on Kommissar who stared right back.

"I did not mean to insult you. I apologize for the misunderstanding." the German said. She could see a flash of surprise in Beca's face at her comment. The American probably hadn't thought that apologies were something the blond was familiar with.

"May I buy you another drink?" She let her eyes fall down to the almost empty glass in Beca's hand, then back to her hazel eyes, putting on her most disarming smile. Beca visible swallowed.

"You do know that it's an open bar, right? Like, you don't have to pay for it. At all." Fat Amy tried to chime in but immediately fell silent as steel blue eyes fixed themselves on her.

"Excuse me. I wasn't talking to you." Kommissar said in an icy voice.

The smaller blond just grimaced and looked away, trying and failing to keep the last bit of her dignity, which, in Kommissar's eyes, was already non existent.

She turned back to Beca, who looked like she wanted to say something in defense of her friend, but decided against it.

"Um... I don't know... I mean it's kinda late and all..." Beca said evasively, shrinking a few inches under the intense stare of the German.

"Please. I want to – how do you say it – make it up to you for being so abrasive while we were competing. I assure you I won't bite." She winked at the smaller girl and grinned.

"Oh I wouldn't mind you biting me." Beca scrunched her face at her own thoughtless comment and actually smacked her hand to her forehead, muttering something under her breath.

"I will take that as a yes." Kommissar said, pleased at how easily she could get into the smaller girl's head and mess with her. Tonight would definitely be quite enjoyable.

"Don't do it, Beca." The fourth girl objected. She had light caramel skin and wavy black hair. Kommissar judged her to be of Latin American heritage.

"It's how they get you. They drug you and kidnap you and you will wake up in a shipping container on your way to Africa to be sold into slavery and work on a chicken farm for 18 hours a day. It happened to my cousin last year."

Kommissar wasn't easily dumbfounded, but this girl was just so unbelievably... weird that she couldn't do anything but stare at her in disbelief.

"That's... interesting." Beca said, finally breaking the awkward silence between the 5 of them. "But I think I'm willing to take that risk if it means more alcohol. You game?" She said, somewhat eager to get away from her friends all of a sudden. The last bit was directed at Kommissar, who was just now waking from her stupor and quickly tried to compose herself.

"Of course. Lead the way."

The two of them made their way to the bar. The blonde tried to ignore the unappreciative stares the other Bellas threw her way. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the dark skinned girl mouthing the words 'I'm watching you' and making a gesture that was probably meant to be intimidating. It wasn't. She brushed it off, since they really weren't worth her time. The real challenge of the night was walking right in front of her, hips swaying from side to side and already a little wobbly on her feet, thanks to the alcohol. Well, it seemed like it wouldn't be that much of a challenge after all. Pity. Kommissar always enjoyed a good challenge.

When they arrived at the bar Beca frowned. It was packed with people and none of them looked like they'd be willing to make room for anyone to get through.

"May I?" Kommissar asked, putting a hand on Beca's shoulder, gently pushing her aside. The slight puzzlement on the smaller girl's face was not lost on her.

Stepping up to two young men leaning against the counter, Kommissar straightened herself to her full 6 foot height and regarded them with a cold stare. She was maybe one or two inches taller than the guys, who recognized her immediately, staring at her wide eyed. The German said something in Danish, which Beca didn't understand, and the duo hurriedly took their leave with only short, mumbled replies. Kommissar stepped up to the bar and motioned for Beca to come closer.

"That wasn't very nice, you know. I mean, whatever you said to them obviously worked, since we're now at the bar standing very, very close to each other..." The smaller girl gulped and sheepishly tried to look anywhere but at the gorgeous blonde directly in front of her.

Kommissar raised a brow. "I merely told them to make room for others, since they already had their drinks and had no reason to still be occupying the counter."

"Fair enough, but you shouldn't stare at people like that, makes them uncomfortable."

"Am I making you uncomfortable, mouse? If you want me to leave you just have to say so." Kommissar said, looking at Beca inquisitively.

"NO!" Beca exclaimed. "I mean yes, I mean... ugh." Kommissar gave a lopsided grin at the smaller girl's reaction. She was quite cute when she didn't know what to say. Of course, the tall German had this effect on many people, making them lose their train of thought and stumble over their own words. To be honest she found it rather annoying most of the time, especially when she tried to have a serious conversation, where her intimidating personality only led to others practically fleeing the scene. But this was different. She enjoyed toying with the leader of the Bellas, making her squirm whenever she accidentally complimented her and watching her lose her composure time and time again. It was fun and Kommissar thought that she would probably never grow tired of playing this game of back and forth.

"What I mean is..." Beca started "You do make me uncomfortable, I mean with all the staring and name calling and your gorgeous smile..." Beca sighed deeply. "See? You're doing it again, making me compliment you without thinking."

"I don't see where the problem is. I think you're very cute when you compliment me, little mouse." Smiling another one of those disarming smiles of hers, Kommissar looked Beca deep into her hazel eyes and lightly traced a finger over the smaller girls forearm. Unfortunately this must have short circuited most of Beca's braincells and all the younger girl could do was stare at her wide eyed and open and close her mouth repeatedly without a sound. Kommissar regarded her with a smug grin on her face, quite pleased with herself.

Beca was saved from further gloating a few moments later when one of the bartenders, a guy with curly blond hair and a gray beanie, asked them what they wanted to drink. Kommissar looked at Beca for a second. The younger girl was still incapable of forming words, so she simply order what she thought would fit best for the small American and herself.

"You know, mouse, if you are going to impersonate a fish for the rest of the night, I don't think that this will work out." Kommissar said in an effort to coax Beca out of her frozen state. It must have worked, because the smaller girl quickly closed her mouth and furrowed her brow. "Hey! I'm not impersonating anyone or anything for that matter... you just caught me off guard, that's all. Which you seem to do rather frequently with your perfect blue eyes and your full lips... And what do you even mean 'it's not going to work out'? What isn't?" Beca was rambling a little. Kommissar thought that this must be something she did quite frequently and was probably not restricted to conversations with the German alone. She was aware of the effect she had on the other girl, of course, but rambling just seemed to come somewhat natural to the brunette.

"I was referring to any upcoming conversations we are going to have tonight. They would be rather one sided and dull, if you would have stayed mute for the rest of the evening."

"Wow, you sound awfully sure that I'm going to keep talking to you, aren't you?"

The bartender returned with their drinks and planted them on the bar in front of them with a short "Enjoy" and a smile directed at Beca. Kommissar gave him one of her icy glares which sent him running off in an instant.

"Do you have to do that to everyone you come across?" Beca said while picking up her drink, a caipirinha with a little too much brown sugar at the bottom. She took a sip from the bright pink straw.

Kommissar picked up her own drink, a simple gin and tonic, and smiled. "Only to people I don't like." She took a sip herself and licked her lips to cleanse them from any remaining liquid. She could see Beca's hazel eyes flicker to her lips before the other girl quickly looked away, blushing lightly.

"And to answer your previous question: I got you a drink so good manners would suggest that you keep me company at least for a little while, yes?"

"Yeah, guess you're right." Beca said. She fidgeted with the straw in her drink, still looking slightly uncomfortable.

"I'm always right, mouse." Kommissar decided to take it a step further now. She reached out and tucked a loose strand of hair, that had fallen out of place, behind Beca's ear. While retracting her hand she brushed along the other girl's jawline with her index finger. She could feel the brunette shudder at the contact. Beca had closed her eyes and released a breath she had been holding, when she suddenly seemed to remember something. She reopened her eyes and gave her head a little shake, drawing back slightly. A little breathless she said "Can I ask you something?" Kommissar raised an eyebrow.

"Why do you call me mouse? 'Cause, like, I'm not a rodent or anything. Unless this is some kind of messed up metaphor and you think of yourself as the cat and you're saying that I'm the mouse who's gonna get caught and eaten, which is kind of terrifying when I think about it. So, please tell me that's not it, is it? 'Cause that would be terrible. And oh for the love of... sorry, I'm rambling again." She sighed and started to massage her temple.

"Don't apologize for that, little mouse, I think it's endearing." Beca blushed again and this time tried to hide it by taking a big gulp of her drink. Kommissar continued, unfazed. "I think the name suits you. There are many similarities between you and a mouse."

"Oh yeah? Like what?" Beca asked, genuinely curious.

"Well, you both are rather small and squeaky, but also very cute." This made Beca blush even harder. "You're quite curious but you can get very feisty when provoked." Kommissar explained matter-of-factly. "You also have a sweet tooth." she said while looking at Beca's drink.

"Yeah well, you ordered that for me so that doesn't really count."

"Fair enough."

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence between them, well, uncomfortable for Beca. She busied herself with her drink, all too aware of Kommissar's eyes watching her every move. Trying not to blatantly stare at the tall blond in front of her, she looked out onto the dance floor, watching the people dance and enjoy themselves. She spotted some of her teammates, dancing like maniacs and just having a great time together. They looked happy as they enjoyed the thumping music, loosened up by the alcohol. Beca smiled, feeling happy for the rest of the Bellas. This was their night after all and they had every right to be celebrating it. In less than a week they would have to say their goodbyes and go their separate ways.

The smile on her face disappeared at the thought and was instead replaced by a sad expression. The fact that she would probably not be seeing most of her friends for a very long time had been nagging at her at the back of her head for quite some time now, but she had successfully ignored it so far. Unfortunately, it was just now making it's great comeback.

Kommissar, being as watchful as ever when it came to the small brunette, noticed her mood shift. "Is everything alright, mouse?"

"Hm?" Beca asked absentmindedly when she was pulled out of her thoughts. "Oh, yeah I was just... thinking about stuff." she said against the lump that was forming in her throat.

"Do you want to tell me about this 'stuff'?" Kommissar asked, genuinely interested in what had Beca so worked up all of a sudden. She smiled reassuringly as the smaller girl's eyes met hers.

Beca thought about this for a moment. She hadn't told anyone about her concerns and her fear of what was to come and what her future might bring. She supposed she had, in some way, done that at the retreat around the campfire, but there hadn't really been enough time to express all of her thoughts. Maybe now was as good a time as any to do just that. Kommissar didn't really know her anyway and they would probably never cross paths again after tonight, so why not get all of this off her chest right now? Maybe just talking about it would make everything a little easier.

She took a deep breath to calm her nerves. Here goes. "It's just... We're flying back home the day after tomorrow and then we'll all go our separate ways, since we're graduates now and we're supposed to find jobs and be responsible adults and stuff like that and... I just don't know if I can do it. I mean I know what I want to do, sure. I want to make music and become a producer and have a career, but I don't want to lose my friends... But I'm going to lose them anyway, no matter what I do, because they're all going to move on with their lives and be happy and it doesn't matter what I want, because I can't force them to stay with me, and I don't think I'm prepared for that." tears had started to well up in her eyes and her voice was getting a little hoarse. Kommissar hadn't expected such an emotional answer. She was unsure of how to respond when Beca continued, somehow unable to stop herself.

"And now even my relationship is falling apart and I can't do anything about that either, because my so called boyfriend won't even talk to me most of the time and rather spend his time with his friends than with his boring, little girlfriend and everything is just so fucked up right now, I don't..." The tears were now freely running down Beca's cheeks as she tried to stifle a sob by covering her mouth with one hand.

Kommissar just stood there, perplexed. She had no idea how to react to someone who was having an emotional breakdown. She tried to avoid situations like this because of that very reason. The night had really taken a turn.

A small voice at the back of her head reminded her that she could always just walk away. This should not concern her in any way. She shouldn't care about the other girl. They had only met 3 times and weren't particularly close. Yet she couldn't bring herself to abandon her, not in her current state. She could understand the situation she was in and, to her own surprise, felt sorry for the brunette and the strong need to comfort her. She was unsure where that particular feeling came from as she debated what her next move would be. Before she could sort out her own thoughts, Beca made the decision for her. The brunette had been overcome by her worries and the stress of figuring her life out and the pressure of the championships. Now that all her feelings had bubbled to the surface all at once, she just wanted someone to hold and comfort her. She wanted Jesse to be there, to simply hold her and tell her that everything would be alright, that they would be alright, but he was off somewhere else doing god knows what. Her brain, in it's disheveled state, chose the next best person near her she knew, albeit only vaguely, to serve as a replacement instead.

Beca lunged forward, throwing her arms around the tall blonde, letting all her emotions out at once. She began to sob violently, pressing her face to Kommissar's chest.

The tall blonde stood frozen in place. This was unanticipated and her brain struggled momentarily to comprehend the new information her nerves were sending. There was a girl pressed to her chest, crying. How did that happen? What was she supposed to do now? She had never done anything like this before.

While her brain was still trying to catch up, her body woke from it's stupor and acted by itself. She took the empty glass out of Beca's hand and put both their drinks back onto the bar. She then wrapped her arms around the smaller girl and drew her in closer. One hand traveled upwards and began to gently stroke Beca's hair, while she whispered soothing words into her ear in an effort to calm the shaking brunette. It felt weird to hold the other girl at first, but she found herself enjoying the contact, even though the situation could be a lot less messed up.

Several people around them turned to see what all the noise was about. They turned back just as quickly when they met Kommissar's icy glare. The last thing Beca needed right now was people staring at her and starting any rumors, the blonde thought. And since Kommissar couldn't exactly go around and punch each and every overly curious bystander in the face, she settled on giving them deadly glares.

Several minutes passed before Beca slowly started to calm down. Her tears started to subside and the sobs became less frequent. She was still holding on tightly to the tall German, eyes shut. When Kommissar thought she had calmed down enough she leaned back slightly and looked at Beca, whose eyes were still closed.

"Beca?" she said in a low, gentle voice. This got the smaller girl's attention. She looked up at the tall blonde, face flushed and eyes red from crying. She just looked so vulnerable in this moment that the blond almost choked on her own words. "Do you want to get some fresh air?" Kommissar knew that Beca needed somewhere quiet to really calm down and a tent full of drunken people was definitely the wrong place to be in when trying to recover from an emotional breakdown.

Beca didn't trust her own voice yet, so she simply nodded. The blonde gave her a reassuring smile as she let go of Beca. She then interlaced their hands and guided the smaller girl through the mass of people towards one of the exits. She stayed very close to her the whole way.

When they exited the tent, the cool night air hit them. They could smell the salty air from the nearby ocean and the damp grass, as Kommissar led Beca a little farther away from the exit to get some real privacy. The night was illuminated by hundreds of lights all over the festival grounds and the half moon, occasionally peering through the thick clouds. Benji had really outdone himself by giving half the festival goers flashlights. He must really like Legacy to go to such lengths, Beca thought.

They stood in silence for a moment, gathering their thoughts and looking out over the sea of lights before them. All the while Kommissar never let go of Beca's hand.

"Sorry for crying on your shirt." Beca said in a small voice, eyes trained on the ground in embarrassment.

"Don't be. We all need to vent our emotions from time to time."

"Somehow I can't imagine you having an emotional breakdown like that. You just seem to have it all figured out. Like, nothing can throw you off."

"There have been a few... rough patches in my life, believe it or not, but I've gotten very good at hiding my emotions." Kommissar admitted in all honesty, a sad smile crossing her face. She didn't exactly know why she told the other girl this. It just seemed like the right thing to say in this situation.

"Yeah that's what I thought, too, and look at me now, I'm a total mess." Beca sighed, feeling utterly exhausted.

Kommissar turned towards Beca, taking her other hand into her own. Hazel eyes met steel blue as she spoke. "Don't ever think any less of yourself for showing your emotions and feeling the things you do, Beca. I think you're very brave for displaying them so openly. You're going through a big change in your life, where many things are unsure, but I know that you can handle it."

Beca was silent for a long time, her expression unreadable, as she stared at Kommissar unblinking. The tall blond was starting to feel uneasy when Beca spoke up again.

"How do you do that?" she finally asked as she furrowed her brow.

"Do what?" Kommissar replied, confused.

"You go from being a professional bad-ass to being the most caring and compassionate person I've ever met in the blink of an eye. How do you do that?"

Because I care about you.

The realization hit Kommissar like a Bus. She had fallen for the smaller girl and didn't even realize it until now. How did this happened? When did this happen? This was bad, really bad. She had to get away from Beca fast, before she would do something she would later regret. This wasn't just about messing with the brunette anymore, or making her uncomfortable, this was a full blown crush and she had it bad, real bad.

"I... I..." she stammered while her mind was frantically searching for an escape. Her eyes looked anywhere but the fragile looking girl in front of her. She didn't dare look into those hazel eyes out of fear that she would do something very, very stupid.

"Are you okay?" Beca asked. She sounded concerned, craning her neck in an attempt to catch the blonde's eye. Behind Beca, Kommissar could see some of the Bellas exit the tent. She had never been so happy to see the odd bunch of girls as she was now. This was her escape route. Apparently, they were searching for their friend, as they were looking from side to side. It didn't take long for the group to spot Beca and Kommissar off to the side and they made their way over.

"You're friends are looking for you." the blonde said in an effort to redirect Beca's attention, since the girl was still searching her face for an answer. Thankfully, the distraction worked. The brunette half turned, slight puzzlement evident on her face. Kommissar used this distraction to drop the other girl's hands and take a step back. She immediately missed the other girl's warmth and had to will her muscles to obey her and to not re initiate the contact. She took a deep breath and tried to assume her usual, straight posture.

"Here you are, we were looking for you. Are you okay?" one of the girls asked, a ginger whose name Kommissar recalled to be Chloe, the Bella's second in command.

"Yeah I'm fine. What are you doing here?" Beca said, slightly irritated. She wanted the others to leave, because she really wanted her earlier question to be answered by the tall German.

"We're going back to the hotel. We didn't want to leave you here alone." Chloe gave Kommissar a wary look.

"I think I should take my leave now. It wouldn't be fair of me to taunt you without my team present to enjoy it." the blonde said with a cocky smile, careful to avoid Beca's eyes. She had an image to maintain and couldn't risk Beca breaking her resolve with the hurt that she was sure must be evident in her beautiful hazel eyes. Oh yes, she definitely had it bad for the other girl.

"It is already past your bedtime anyway, isn't that right, Bellas?" Falling back into her usual snarky and abrasive attitude was harder than it should have been.

"Yeah whatever, you can't intimidate us anymore. We won the Worlds so you can fuck off now, loser." the other girl said, anger clearly written on her face.

"Hey! That was way out of line, Chloe!" Beca tried to defend the blonde and made a point by stepping between her and her friends.

"What? Are you defending her now? She is the enemy, Beca!"

This was getting out of hand. Kommissar had to get out of here before things could get even more heated.

"As entertaining as it is to watch you fight, I really have to go. Try not to get lost on your way home, Bellas" she said with a wink at the ginger girl, that seemed to infuriate her even more. She turned on the spot, trying to walk away as fast as she could without actually running.

"Yeah you better walk away. And don't come back or I'll wipe that grin off your face myself." Chloe shouted behind her. She could hear some of the Bellas trying to calm her. Kommissar tried to keep her emotions in check, but doing so was harder than she thought. Comforting Beca had taken a lot out of her and the insults the other girl was throwing her way hurt more than they should. This was the exact reason why she tried to not get emotionally invested in someone, she reminded herself.

She had already put some distance between herself and the group of girls, when she could hear Beca call out after her. She came to a halt but didn't turn around. Her brain protested and willed her to continue forward, but her muscles defied her yet again. As Beca's footsteps came closer she took a deep breath and tried to compose herself. Standing still was probably a terrible idea.

Beca had caught up to her and positioned herself in front of Kommissar, looking at her apologetically.

"Look, I'm sorry for what Chloe said, she can be a real bitch sometimes."

"I've had worse encounters than that." Kommissar said with a shrug, trying to appear indifferent.

"Are you really okay? I feel like I owe you for ruining your night..." The tall blonde felt a pang of hurt in her chest. It wasn't that Beca had called out for her because she didn't want her to leave or because she too felt like there was more between them. It was only because she thought that she owed her. Kommissar felt like someone had just punched her in the gut.

"I'm alright. You don't owe me anything. You should get back to your friends, it's late." she said in a neutral voice.

Beca seemed unsure of what to do next, glancing past Kommissar at her friends, who were waiting for her to get back to them. She looked back at the tall blond, whose face remained emotionless.

"I don't want us to part like this... It doesn't seem right. You know, with what happened and all..."

"You'll forget about it soon enough."

"I don't think I will." Beca said. Kommissar was unsure about what to make of the smaller girl's reply when she spoke up again.

"Can I call you?" she asked, fishing out her phone from her back pocket. Kommissar debated this in her mind. She could just make a clean cut right here. And she probably should. Beca would have no way to contact her and she could just forget about the other girl and be done with it. But somehow that didn't seem right. Somewhere in her mind, she knew that she would regret the decision to shut the brunette out. She just looked so small and fragile, standing in front of her, shivering slightly in the cool breeze.

Before her brain could come up with more reasons as to why this was a bad idea, she snatched the phone out of Beca's hand and quickly typed in her private number, before handing it back. The smaller girl looked at the display for a second, then frowned.

"You didn't write your name. What am I supposed to call you? I can't just call you Kommissar, that would be weird."

"You'll have to figure it out yourself." Kommissar said, a smile tugging at her lips, despite her current emotional state. She was hopeless. She just couldn't stop toying with the other girl and if she was completely honest with herself, she didn't want to. It was probably a bad idea to give Beca her number, but there was no going back now, since the brunette had already put her phone back into her pocked. The blond tried to ignore the cries of reason at the back of her head.

"God, you're such a tease..." Beca sighed, a weak smile crossing her face.

"But you love me anyway." Kommissar said without thinking. She stared at the smaller girl in shock. Where did that come from? She really had to get away from her before things could get any worse. Her mind had also taken this as a cue to wandered off into dangerous territory, thinking things that, she was sure, would get her ripped apart by a mob of angry Bellas if she ever acted on them, deliberately or not.

Fortunately, Beca was as dumbfounded by her words as she herself and could do nothing but stare at her in disbelief.

"I need to go." Kommissar stammered, before she hurriedly turned around. She stopped herself after a few feet and turned back to Beca, who hadn't moved an inch.

"Good night, mouse." she added hesitantly, her voice betraying her emotions, sounding unsure and a little shaky.

"Good night." the smaller girl replied, a little confused, but her voice warm and caring. They looked at each other for another moment, both unwilling to just walk away, when Chloe called out to Beca, pulling her out of her stupor. The brunette gave Kommissar one last look, before she turned and walked back to her friends.

The German watched her and the rest of the group disappear behind one of the tents, before she slowly made her way back to the VIP tent to rejoin her own team. They were no doubt wondering where she had gone off to. She only hoped they wouldn't ask too many questions that she herself didn't even know the answers to.

She felt exhausted. Tonight's events had taken a lot out of her and all she wanted to do now was to crawl into her bed and just sleep. She would have to sort out her feelings and emotions in the morning. Somehow she couldn't help but feel happy about everything that had happened tonight, even though her mind had a hard time agreeing with that particular feeling. Despite all of the the emotional turmoil, somehow, it just felt right.

A small smile found it's way onto Kommissar's face, as she stepped into the bright, flashing lights of the VIP tent. Maybe, just maybe, she wouldn't have to regret this night after all.


	2. Chapter 2

Holy Moly, I didn't expect this kind of response when I uploaded the first chapter. You guys are awesome, thank you so much!

This Chapter is quite different from the first. There's much more conversing, since it's a phone call and you can't do much else than talk when on the phone... Anyway, here are some plot-related things: Someone in the reviews mentioned that Beca has blue eyes instead of brown, which is true (don't know why I thought she had brown ones, probably because of the hair), but for the sake of convenience I'm going to stick with hazel. Speaking of conveniences: in a world where competitive A Capella is a thing I figured that copyright is probably a non-issue, and international phone calls and text messages are free, or else Beca would have one hell of a phone bill at the end of the month.

As always, tell me how you like this chapter and if anyone finds any mistakes tell me, so I can correct them. :) And thanks to woofwolf for pointing out that there is a difference between blond and blonde ;)

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Beca carelessly threw her backpack to the side as she closed the door to the apartment behind her. She let out a big sigh as she flopped down onto the worn out couch in the small living room. She was frustrated. One month after graduating and winning the Worlds she was still interning at Residual Heat in the hopes that her boss would stay true to his words and work with Emily and her on some songs. Unfortunately, he didn't seem too eager to get started. Every time Beca had asked him he had made up some lame excuse that he was either too busy or had to take an important phone call or some other bullshit. After a while Beca had just given up on asking him entirely.

She had started to apply to other studios, but none of them showed any interest in her so far. Pulling out her phone, she started to browse through her contacts. She needed to vent some air very badly.

The first name that popped up was Jesse's, but he was working right now and he had made her promise not to call him during work hours. After their graduation he had scored a job at a small, independent film studio and was running errands for them almost 24/7. This, of course, meant even less time for the two of them to actually be together. Beca knew that she shouldn't be mad at him for taking the job. Movies were his passion, just like music was Beca's, she shouldn't judge him for doing what he loved and investing himself into it. Still, their relationship had suffered even more now that they were both working full time.

Next up was Chloe, who was also not an option. She had stayed true to her words and was off somewhere in south Africa, working with underprivileged children and teaching them to dance exotically or something. She wasn't entirely sure about what exactly her best friend was doing. They had talked a few times over Skype, or rather Chloe had talked and Beca had listened. Her friend was really enjoying her time in a foreign country, working with these kids, and Beca didn't want to concern her with her own problems when she seemed so happy.

She could also root out Legacy and Fat Amy, since she had a feeling that talking to them would only lead to them using her as an outlet to complain about their own problems, rather than listen. She hadn't talked to any of the other Bellas for quite some time, so they were out of the picture, too. That left only one person who she knew to be a good listener.

Her finger hovered over the green call button underneath the name, as she debated whether or not she should risk it. She hadn't talked to Kommissar after what had happened at the Worlds. She had been unsure of what to say to her without embarrassing herself even more. The events of that night were still deeply engraved into her mind. What if the tall blonde didn't want to talk to her? Beca supposed that the German had every right to block her out. The least she could have done after breaking down in front of her would be to call her and make sure that she was okay. Instead, Beca had just told herself she'd do it tomorrow, like the lazy procrastinator she was, and then she never actually did it. What would she say when Kommissar asked her why she didn't call? 'Hey, sorry I didn't call, I was pretty insecure about what to say so I just thought I'd ignore you and hope we never meet again or else I would probably die out of shame'. Yeah, that seemed like a great way to start a conversation. Beca sighed and ran a hand though her long, brown hair.

Fuck it, she thought and tapped the call button, before holding the phone to her ear.

It rang several times before a female voice picked it up and grumbled something unintelligible.

"Uh, hey... it's me, Beca." she said, unsure if this was even the right number. Maybe the German had screwed with her yet again and had given her a fake number.

"Mouse?" No, it was definitely Kommissar, no doubt about that. "Please tell me you have a good reason for calling me in the middle of the night..." the woman sighed deeply, sounding exhausted. Her accent was somehow thicker than usual.

"What do you mean? It's only like 8 pm." Beca said, confused as to why Kommissar would be in bed this early.

The blond groaned at the other end of the line, a little frustrated. "You do remember that I live in Germany, yes? It's 2:13 am."

"Shit!" Beca exclaimed, smacking herself in the head for being so stupid. She had totally forgotten that time zones were a thing.

"Sorry, I totally blanked. I'm gonna let you sleep, just... forget that I called." This was so embarrassing. It seemed like every time she talked to the blonde she managed to put her foot in.

"It's alright." Kommissar said. "I'm awake now, anyway."

Beca bit her lip. This was not how she expected the conversation to go at all. She could hear the shuffle of sheets at the other end and assumed that Kommissar was getting out of bed. The image of the other girl, with messy hair and dressed in only a loose fitting shirt, popped up in her mind and made her blush deeply. She tried to get the image out of her head and was immensely grateful that she wasn't in the same room as the German Goddess. Wait, 'Goddess'? Where the hell did that come from? Now her brain, for some reason, pictured the tall blonde in some kind of Nordic armor with wings and a sword in hand. What the hell was wrong with her? This was getting ridiculous. She was pulled out of her thoughts when the older girl spoke again.

"So, are you going to tell me why you called, or were you just checking if the number is still working?" Kommissar still sounded rather groggy, but her earlier frustration was replaced by what Beca assumed to be anger.

Beca grimaced. Kommissar had every right to be mad at her, but the words still hurt. "It's really not that important, I just thought I'd call you, you know, since you gave me your number a while back and all... Though, actually, you didn't give it to me, it was me who asked you for it, but then I didn't call or text you, for like a month, and now I've woken you up in the middle of the night and I feel like the biggest ass in the whole universe and I'm really, really sorry." she started to pick at a loose thread on one of the sofa cushions, wishing that the ground would just open up and swallow her. She really did feel like an ass.

Several thousand miles away, Kommissar dragged a hand over her face and sighed deeply. She had been very disappointed, even angry, when Beca hadn't called her. After everything that had happened at the Worlds, she had really believed that the brunette had wanted to talk to her again, especially with how their talk outside the VIP tent went. She had given up on her hopes of ever hearing from the former Bella again, after the first week or so, and had tried her best to forget her. Only she couldn't. After she had realized that she had feelings for the smaller girl, she just hadn't been able to get Beca out of her head. After three weeks of radio silence, she had come to the conclusion that Beca wanted absolutely nothing to do with her and that had hurt more than any words the brunette could have said. Now, after a month of not hearing from the American, she didn't know if she wanted to shout at her for getting her hopes up and then vanishing entirely, or to forgive her on the spot and to try and keep talking to her for as long as possible. Somehow, the smaller girl had a way to wear down Kommissar's resolve entirely with only a few words.

"It's alright mouse." she said, accepting her defeat. She knew that she couldn't stay mad at the brunette. And she couldn't deny the feeling of happiness she had felt at hearing Beca's voice when she had picked up her phone. "I'm not mad at you. I was... disappointed when you didn't call... but I'm happy you did now." Kommissar admitted honestly.

"I'm happy I did, too." Beca admitted. "I mean, I still feel like a moron for not calling, but I didn't know what to say after everything that happened and I didn't know if you still wanted to talk to me at all, because I was a complete mess and kinda just dumped it all on you. So I just, you know... put it off until later every time I thought about you..."

So she had thought about her after all, Kommissar thought, a small smile tugging at her lips. How in the world could she ever stay mad at the small brunette with her hazel eyes and her contagious smile.

"You really don't have to apologize, mouse. Like I said, I'm not mad. Now tell me why you called."

Beca hesitated. The reason why she called Kommissar seemed silly now. "It's about my job, but it's nothing big, really. Just that my boss is an ass and I feel like I'm stuck here but I can't find another studio that wants to hire me."

"Okay... Sorry to ask, but what is it you're doing, again?" Kommissar asked. They had never really talked about anything substantial like their jobs or private life in general. Most of their conversations were just Kommissar teasing the younger girl and Beca accidentally complimenting her. Still, Kommissar somehow felt bad for not knowing more about the small American.

"Oh right, sorry. I never told you." The brunette said.

"I never asked so it's nothing to apologize for." Kommissar said reassuringly.

"Right... Uh... I'm an intern. At a studio, a music studio, Residual Heat, and my boss, he's a producer, and he works with people like Snoop Dogg and other really popular people whose names I've forgotten for some reason... Anyway, he's promised Legacy and me that he would work with us on a song, but so far he hasn't and he's always very evasive when I ask him about it and..."

"Sorry, who's Legacy?" Kommissar interrupted. She had a hard time following Beca's train of thought, since she knew so little about her.

"Emily. She's a Bella. She wrote the song for our final performance at the Worlds. You know the girl who... uh, messed up at the riff off?" Beca grimaced. She didn't want Emily to be remembered for screwing up something as trivial as a riff off, but she didn't know a faster way to refresh Kommissar's memory.

"Oh yes, I remember her."

"Yeah anyway," Beca continued. "she and I worked on a demo of her song and showed it to him and he seemed really impressed, but now he barely even looks at me and I think - and I swear I'm not making this up - I think he purposefully goes out of his way to avoid me. I know, it sounds crazy..."

"And you have talked to him and reminded him of his promise?" the blonde asked.

"Yeah, several times, actually. Though it wasn't like a 'promise' promise, more like 'I'll look forward to working with you' kind of promise, if you know what I mean." Beca said, doing a very bad impression of her boss's voice. "He didn't give a specific answer when he'll actually work with us or anything, but it's still frustrating."

"Well it sounds like a promise to me. You should definitely speak with him again. If he said he would work with you, he should do it. A serious producer keeps his promises." Kommissar said as if it that was the solution to all of Beca's problems.

"That's easy for you to say. I imagine you'd walk right up to him and beat the shit out of him if he tries to bullshit you in any way. Not literally, of course." Beca said, imagining Kommissar, dressed in a very formfitting, gray pantsuit, going up against her boss and staring him down with those steel blue eyes.

"The way you perceive me is very bizarre, mouse. I'm actually a very approachable person and I have never... beaten the shit out of anyone, as you so eloquently put it."

"Yeah, we'll get back to that whole 'approachable person' part later." Beca chuckled. She had missed talking to the tall German. She always seemed to take Beca's words very seriously, but at the same time joked about it in the most adorable way. Wait, what? Since when did the brunette think of Kommissar as adorable?

"It's true. I think most people are just intimidated by my physical flawlessness." Kommissar smirked and Beca could hear the grin in her voice.

"Ha ha, very funny." the brunette rolled her eyes and flopped back against the soft sofa cushions, draping an arm over the back rest. She couldn't help but smile at Kommissar's jokes and teasing. A warm, fuzzy feeling started to spread through her body. Talking to the German was just so easy, almost like talking to Chloe, but also very different. She had a hard time describing just how she felt about the whole situation, but she knew that hearing Kommissar's voice was something she genuinely enjoyed.

"What about you?" Beca asked "You never told me what you're doing besides singing A Capella."

"You mean aside from being a professional bad ass and answering phone calls in the middle of the night?" Kommissar chuckled.

"Yes, aside from that." Beca laughed.

"Let's see..." the German began slowly. "I actually invest most of my time into DSM, creating the dance routines, performing, recording songs for new albums. All these things require a lot of time and effort."

"Wait, let me get this straight. You guys have albums? Like, real, purchasable albums?" Beca had a hard time believing Kommissar. She had never heard of an A Capella band that was successful enough to actually sell albums.

"So far we have released three of those, yes." the blonde confirmed.

"What? How? I mean... What?" Beca was speechless. She had never thought that one could make a living by singing A Capella. The Bellas had their fair share of concerts and competitions over the years and even offers to sing background for well known musicians, but the money had never been that good. Most of the time it was just enough to cover their expenses.

"DSM is very popular, especially in central Europe. We're starting our second European tour next month, actually." Kommissar stated in all seriousness.

"Are you serious? You guys make actual money by singing A Capella? Enough to make a living?" the brunette said, still not entirely believing the blonde.

"Well, most of us have other jobs aside from performing with DSM. After all, the money we make is divided almost equally between every member of the group, but it's enough to... pay the bills, as you would say it. And it's something we all enjoy doing." the blonde explained.

"Wow, okay, that's... unexpected. The Bellas never really made that much money with performances."

"I'm not saying it was easy for us either. The first few years we were only doing it for fun. Pieter and I came up with the idea to form an A Capella band in university and after we graduated we started to take DSM more seriously."

"You went to college? What did you study?" This was news to Beca. She never doubted that Kommissar was well educated, but for some reason she couldn't imagine her during college years.

"I have a bachelors degree in Architectural Design." Kommissar stated.

"You're an architect? Huh. Not what I'd have picked for you." In Beca's mind, architects were always either stuck up businessmen in their early 30's or broke visionaries working alongside art students in Starbucks.

"Then what did you think would be my actual job?"

"I don't know. Something like a lawyer or a um... a Commissar or something." Beca said, immediately regretting the decision to voice her thoughts.

"A Commissar? Really?" The blond laughed. "What gave you that idea?"

"Oh, shut up!" Beca exclaimed. She was sure that the German was sporting one of her signature smug grin's right now and wanted nothing more than to wipe it off her face, preferably with a kiss. She froze, unsure where the thought had come from. Why was she thinking about kissing the tall blonde, all of a sudden? She hastily continued to speak to distract herself from her own thoughts, afraid of where they might take her. "You just have that inquisitive stare most of the time, you know? You look at people and it feels like you see right through them and they can't hide anything from you." Well that wasn't exactly how she planned to respond to Kommissar's teasing, but it could have been worse...

"Are you sure you're not just describing the effect I have on you, tiny mouse?"

"Of course not! I'm like 90% sure you have that effect on other people as well. It can't just be me, can it?" No it couldn't, because that would be ridiculous.

"Well..." Kommissar started, but was interrupted by the small brunette.

"Actually, don't answer that. I'm not sure I wanna hear it." Beca said.

"As you wish, mouse." There was a moment of silence between them before the blonde spoke up again. "Can I ask you something?" Kommissar's voice had somehow changed, but Beca wasn't entirely sure if she wasn't just imagining things. She wished that she could at least see the other women so she could try and read her expressions while talking. Next time she'd have to video call her on Skype.

"Sure." she answered, wondering what the German would want to ask her about.

"Why me?" The former Bella wasn't quite sure what Kommissar was talking about.

"What do you mean?" Beca asked, confused.

"You could have called any of your friends and tell them about your day, but you called me. Why?" the German questioned.

Beca was silent for a long moment. She had no immediate answer to that. Why did she call Kommissar instead of any of her other friends? Sure, most of them were busy at the moment or weren't the best listeners, but she could have talked to literally anyone to complain about her boss. So why the blonde? She realized that she really didn't know, but Kommissar was waiting for an answer, so she had to say something. Don't mess this up, she told herself as she took a deep breath to calm her nerves.

"I don't know." she began hastily, unsure of what to say. "I just... really wanted to talk to you again. It's not something I can explain it's just... our talk after the Worlds... I still don't know what to make of it, but I've been thinking about it ever since."

It was true, though Beca would probably never admit this to anyone else. Admitting it to Kommissar was hard enough. She had indeed been thinking about the blonde and their conversation, wondering what to make of her words and actions, but had come to no conclusion as to why the German had acted so different back then.

Kommissar was silent for a long time and Beca started to feel a little worried. She wanted to get a reaction from the other girl, but at the same time she didn't want to force her. Had she said something wrong? Maybe she shouldn't have mentioned the talk their talk at the Worlds. But hadn't Kommissar brought it up first? She had joked about it at the very beginning of their call, so why was she upset now? Was she even upset? Beca didn't know.

"You asked me how I managed to be so compassionate towards you when you were upset. Do you still want an answer to this?" The German said with an even voice. Beca hesitated. She remembered Kommissar's reaction to her question quite vividly. The German had acted very strangely and had tried to avoid her gaze. She hadn't gotten an answer back then and now the blond was going to give her one willingly? Hell yes she'd take it! Even if she would prefer the answer to be voiced face to face, she wouldn't throw away what could quite possibly be her only chance of getting it out of Kommissar.

"Of course." She said, sitting up straight in anticipation.

The brunette could hear Kommissar take a deep breath before she answered. "I... know how it feels when everything around you is slowly falling apart. I know how it feels to watch everyone you love and care for leave you behind and carry on with their lives and you're left to pick up the pieces. I..." Kommissar hesitated, unsure if she should continue. Admitting how she had felt that night, how she still felt, could quite possibly eliminate any chance of ever getting any closer to Beca. She wasn't sure if she was prepared to lose her a second time. She closed her eyes and tried to control her breathing.

"When you told me how you felt, about your worries and fears, all I wanted to do was to comfort you and tell you that it's going to be fine because... I realized that I care about you, mouse. I know we never talked much and, most of the time, I was just so mean to you, but I know now that I really like you and when you didn't call it... hurt, because I thought you didn't want anything to do with me." Kommissar had a hard time keeping herself from tearing up. It had been a very long time since she had talked so openly about her feelings and emotions and keeping her composure was harder than she thought. She didn't know if she should feel relived that this conversation was taking place over a phone call, so that Beca wouldn't see her trying to keep it all together. She also felt the strong need to hold the girl in her arms, to look into her hazel eyes and to make her understand just how much she meant to her. Because she did mean a lot to the tall German. More than she wanted to admit.

"I..." Beca began, unsure of what to say. Had Kommissar really just admitted that she liked her, or was she imagining things? When did this happen? How did this happen? Wait, hold on. What did the blonde mean when she said she 'liked' her? Surely this was only meant in a 'friends' kind of way, right? Anything else would be ridiculous. They had only met like, what? Four times so far? Hardly enough time to decide if you really like someone. And besides, they never had any real, meaningful conversations, mostly just harmless banter and teasing. Well aside from that one conversation they had at the Worlds and the one they were having now... Last time it had been Beca who had poured her heart out, this time it was Kommissar. Was this a thing now? Every time they speak someone has to pull out the big guns and have an emotional breakdown? No. The blonde wasn't having a breakdown, she was way too professional for that. But she was still waiting for an answer from Beca, who just now realized how her silence could be interpreted.

"Damn it, sorry I spaced out. I was thinking about what you said and... I really like you, too." She did? Well, yeah, of course she did. Why not? No harm done by being friends with the gorgeous German, right? Maybe she should change the subject a little, though.

"And again, I'm sorry for not calling you. But I'll make it up to you, promise." She mentally kicked herself. Randomly promising things she might not be able to keep was not the smartest of moves.

Kommissar chuckled. "Don't think I won't hold you to that promise later, little mouse."

Beca sighed. "I'm going to regret this, aren't I?"

"I have only the best intentions, I swear." Kommissar grinned. She enjoyed the light banter they were having right now. She had been nervous about how Beca might react to their conversation, but things had turned out pretty good.

"Yeah, of course you do. You'd never say or do anything to embarrass me, right?" the brunette inquired in a somewhat sarcastic tone.

"Wouldn't dream of it." Kommissar assured, still smiling.

"Alright, glad we could clear that up." Beca said lighthearted. She really enjoyed talking to Kommissar in this sort of carefree way. It was fun.

"So... what did you do today?" the brunette asked, changing the subject.

"Hm, let's see." the German said, taking a few moments to consider the question. "We had practice today, with DSM that is. It was good. We're almost ready for our tour, but there are still a few things that we need to improve. What else... I bought some groceries at the market, I went for a jog in the morning, I watched the news... I'm sorry, mouse, but my day was rather boring."

"I don't think that's boring. I really wanna know what you're doing all day long. I know so little about you."

"You'd probably find taking out the trash interesting, if it involved me in any way, yes?" Kommissar joked.

"Maybe." Beca said defiantly. "What if?"

"Mouse, I think we should talk about boundaries. I'm not too fond of stalkers, you know." Kommissar laughed.

"Hey, I'm not stalking you! Stalking would be liking 3 year old pictures of you on Facebook. I don't even like Facebook, and I haven't even googled you. 'Cause THAT would be stalking."

"Not yet, but I bet you're going to." Kommissar deadpanned, effectively silencing the younger girl.

"I..." Beca stammered. This was ridiculous. She would never, ever stalk the tall blonde in any way. "That is so not true. I am definitely not going to google you, ever."

"But you still have to find out my real name, remember?"

"What?" Beca exclaimed loudly. "That's not fair! I said I'm not going to google you! Can't just tell me your name now?"

"No." Kommissar stated.

"Why not?!" Beca said, raising her voice in irritation.

"Because I told you to figure it out by yourself. It wouldn't be much fun to just tell you. It's not my fault that you failed to do your research in time."

Beca huffed in frustration. "You're unbelievable..."

"True, but I think you like me just the way I am, or else you would have hung up already." the blonde reasoned.

"I'm seriously considering it now, so don't tempt me."

"But tempting you is so much fun..." Kommissar's voice was a low purr that made Beca shiver slightly. She bit her lip. Warmth had started to spread through her cheeks at the blonde's comment and she leaned back into the cushions, trying to hide her blush from the world.

"So, how about I give you three tries and if you guess correctly, you'll get a treat. Deal?" the German asked.

Beca gulped as her voice threatened to betray her. "Deal." she breathed out, mind racing and throwing all kinds of possibilities around as to what exactly this 'treat' could be. Whatever it was, she wanted it. She just had to win.

"Alright. What's your first guess?" Kommissar asked.

The brunette thought back to all of their previous encounters, trying to find anything that might give her a hint, but she came up empty handed. Neither of Kommissar's team members had ever addressed the tall blonde by name. Beca decided to just go with, what she thought to be a popular name, since it yielded the highest chance of being correct, statistically.

"Lisa." the brunette stated decidedly.

"That is a very popular name in Germany, but it is not mine." the blonde answered, unimpressed.

"Okay. Then how about..." Beca started, frantically trying to think of other German names. Why hadn't she payed more attention in her history classes? She was sure that the blonde's name was something very old and prestigious. She could picture Kommissar having an old, aristocratic name, maybe the name of one of her grandmothers or something. After all, the German seemed very well educated and poised, so a noble heritage wasn't that far off, right? "How about Elizabeth or something?"

"Just how old do you think I am? And isn't Elizabeth rather similar to Lisa?" Kommissar inquired.

"Well, yeah, kind of. But I had no time to research German names, so at least give me some credit for creativity." Beca tried to defend herself.

"But Elizabeth is not an exclusively German name, mouse. I suppose you have never heard about a country called England?" Kommissar smirked.

"Okay fine, don't give me any credit then, I don't need your snarky comments anyway. I still have one more try, don't I?"

"You do, but you better make it count if you want your treat." the blonde said with a bright grin, enjoying every moment of this little game they were playing.

"Great, no pressure at all." Beca huffed. She really wanted to figure out Kommissar's real name by herself and she mentally reprimanded herself for not looking up information about the blonde on the internet, even though she'd said that she'd never google her... Her eyes fell on the laptop sitting on the coffee table in front of her. Maybe she'd be able to google German names real quick without Kommissar noticing. She just had to distract the blonde long enough and be quick about it.

"Well?" Kommissar interrupted her thoughts. "I'm waiting." It looked like stalling wasn't a very good option. The German would most likely sense her nervousness and figure out what she was trying to do. It seemed like she just had to take a gamble and hope that she'd get lucky.

"Okay, I got it now. Your name is Anna."

"Close, but also incorrect." was Kommissar's short and simple answer, effectively crushing Beca short lived dream of getting the mysterious treat.

"Oh come on! How am I even supposed to guess your name? That was really unfair..." Beca said, a small pout on her face.

"Maybe, but it was fun, wasn't it?" Kommissar was grinning from ear to ear now.

"You have a weird definition of fun... So, are you gonna tell me your name now, or what?" Beca was a little angry. This whole guessing game was totally dumb. Why did she even agree to this in the first place?

"I never said I would." Kommissar deadpanned.

"Are you serious? After all that you're still not going to tell me?" This was outrageous. Why was she even still talking to this woman? She should just hang up right now, because that's what you get when you mess with Beca Effin Mitchell!

"Calm down, mouse. I'm just joking." Kommissar said in an effort to calm the angry brunette. "I was just messing with you. Of course I'll tell you."

"Good." Beca said. She was still mad at Kommissar, but she still wanted to find out the other girl's name. "What is it then?"

"It's Annika. Annika Neumann. You can google it, if you think that I'm still toying with you."

"No. It's fine... Annika." she said, letting the word roll off her tongue. She liked the way it sounded. "I think I like it."

"I'm glad you do. That saves me the trouble of changing it." the blonde joked.

"Yeah well, I wouldn't want to inconvenience you." Beca said, calming down and forgetting her earlier frustration with the blonde.

"How very considerate of you, mouse."

"Anytime, Annika."

Kommissar bit the tip of her tongue and smiled. She genuinely enjoyed hearing Beca say her name. She didn't know why, but it made her feel special in some way. Well, she did know why, but now was not the time to follow that train of thought.

A loud rumble came from Beca's stomach and caught the attention of both women.

"Sorry." Beca apologized. "I only had a Bagel for breakfast today, guess my stomach is slightly pissed at me for neglecting it for so long." she joked.

"That is very unhealthy, Beca. You need to eat regularly over the course of the day." Annika said in a concerned voice.

"Thanks for the advice, mom." the brunette said sarcastically. "I wasn't hungry and I had a lot to do. I forgot, no big deal. I'll just eat later."

"No, Beca, you will eat now." the German said in a voice that left no room for discussion. "It's getting rather late already and I really need to get back to bed, so you have plenty of time to eat. As much as I enjoy our conversation, I have to get up in 3 hours."

"Wait, what?" Beca exclaimed, looking at the digital clock on the far wall next to the TV. It read 9:58pm. They had been talking for almost two hours.  
"Damn, sorry. I cost you, like two hours of sleep complaining about my boring-ass life..."

"Technically I did 'lose' two hours of sleep, yes, but since I enjoyed our little talk very much, I would call it time well spent, don't you think, mouse?" Kommissar said. She didn't want Beca to feel guilty about keeping her awake.

"You always find ways to make me feel infinitely better about myself and honestly, I could get used to this." Beca laughed.

"I aim to please." the blonde stated smugly. "So, how about you go eat something more substantial than a breakfast bagel and I try to get as much rest out of my remaining three hours of sleep as I can. Does that sound like a good deal?"

"Agreed, but only if you text me once you get up." Beca insisted.

"You will still be asleep by that time, I don't want to wake you." Annika said, unwilling to inconvenience the small brunette.

"Maybe I want you to wake me up." she said, without realizing how that might sound to the blonde. "And don't even think about not doing as I say. Disobedience is a very serious crime in the Kingdom of Beca."

"How could I ever defy any of your orders, oh glorious queen of awkwardness." the blonde said in all seriousness, though Beca could hear the hint of a smile in her voice.

Beca laughed. The German could be unbelievably silly if she wanted to. She wondered if she was this way with any one else, or if this was something only the two of them shared. She hoped it was the latter. "You're the worst, you know that?"

"Of course I am. I am bad ass, remember? Now go and find some cheese, little mouse, we'll talk some other time." Annika said in a soft, gentle voice.

"Oh just go to sleep already." Beca said, grinning brightly. That fuzzy feeling was returning to her stomach and she was sure that tonight, she'd sleep better than ever before. "Good night, Annika."

"Good night, mouse." was the last thing the blonde said, before she hung up.


End file.
